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Icon Tax Group: Former IRS Special Agent Indicted on Tax Charges

by Michael Lodge

In tax accounting offices at some point in time you will find a tax practitioner engaged in some kind of fraud, and the same goes with employees and former employees of the IRS. Every firm tries really hard to keep their firm in compliance, but all it takes is one to create a crises. The issue of ethics and fraud should be a constant conversation in every organization. A fraud crises in any organization rocks the foundation of any organization. If you sit down with your tax accountant and something does not sound right, speak to management of the firm, inform them of your concern. Be proactive and communicate anything you see as fraud with the firm that accountant is working for. If your accountant is in private practice by themself; talk to another accountant, get a second opinion. Don’t be afraid to protect yourself from fraud.

Here is a story about a IRS agent that was in the Criminal Investigation unit of the IRS. Those that watch tax payers and tax preparers also need to be watched.

A federal grand jury indicted Thursday a former special agent who worked in the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation unit, charging her with filing false tax returns, theft of government money and obstructing a federal investigation.

Alena Aleykina, a Sacramento-based CPA, allegedly filed false individual income tax returns for 2009, 2010 and 2011, on which she claimed false filing statuses, dependents, deductions and losses and tax returns on behalf of two trusts.

Between 2008 and 2013, Aleykina prepared false tax returns for herself, family members, trusts and partnerships, according to the indictment. She allegedly made false statements to representatives of the Treasury Department and tried to obstruct a federal investigation by destroying evidence on a government computer. She was also charged with fraudulently causing the IRS to issue IRS Tuition Assistance Reimbursement payments to her.

If convicted, she faces up to three years in jail on each of the six counts of filing a false tax return and the one count of corruptly endeavoring to obstruct the internal revenue laws, along with 10 years in prison for the charge of theft of government money and 20 years for destruction of evidence charge, along with a period of supervised release, plus monetary penalties.